Sometimes self-delusion can be a good thing

ON ATHLETHICS:In races like the five-mile, it is us against ourselves. Although some might argue that is the cruellest of opponents, writes IAN O'RIORDAN

WARNING: Beware of passing runners! This goes out to anyone in the vicinity of the Phoenix Park this morning, the Dublin Mountains tomorrow morning – and about half the roads around Ireland for the next two weeks. Although, if any of them look like collapsing, do please lend a hand.

We may be approaching the peak of the track and field season, with the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona now just 10 days away, but in the meantime some of us get to enjoy the flip side of the sport, starting with this morning's Irish RunnerFive-Mile Challenge in the Phoenix Park.

This is one of the best dates on the Irish athletics calendar, and, not surprisingly, entries have soared again, to over 6,000. Much of the attraction here is there is no real competitive element, at least beyond the competition within.

In races like the Irish RunnerFive-Mile, it is us against ourselves. Although some might argue that is the cruellest of opponents.

Also part of the attraction is this race begins the countdown – or rather build-up – to the Dublin Marathon, on October 25th. The idea is that any marathon virgins out there can try the five-mile, then the 10-mile (on August 21st), then the half-marathon (on September 18th) – and if they all go to plan there’s no reason why 26.2 miles should be beyond them. Believe me, it won’t.

Still, for some people, there’s no fun in just running the smooth roads of the Phoenix Park. So they’ve probably entered tomorrow’s Dublin Mountain Plod. This is a new event – the first official half-marathon in the Dublin Mountains, with plans to make it a full marathon next year, provided there aren’t too many casualties up in Massy’s Wood, and across the new Tibradden and Cruagh mountain trails. Starting in Marley Park, it’s a joint venture between the Dublin Mountain Partnership and the Irish Mountain Running Association, and another welcome promotion of what is still a mostly under-used and under-appreciated resource.

But why run a half-marathon in one day when you can run 32 full marathons in 32 counties in 32 days? Truth is, not even I would recommend that much running, but if it’s all for a good cause, why not?

It’s what Gerry Duffy and Ken Whitelaw have been at for two weeks, having started in Longford on July 2nd. This morning, outside the Carlton Hotel in Galway, they’ll set off on marathon number 16. If they finish that, they’ll still only be halfway, with 16 more marathons to come, in 16 more counties, over the next two weeks, before finishing in their native Westmeath on the Bank Holiday Monday, August 2nd.

The idea is to get people to run with them each day, some or all of the way, and raise funds for their causes – Irish Autism Action, and the Irish Cancer Society. It’s already proving quite an adventure and you can read more about it at www.32marathons.com.

The beauty about the way Duffy and Whitelaw are running, and indeed the way the five-mile is set up, is neither the finishing position nor finishing time is of any great concern. At least it shouldn’t be.

Still, that doesn’t lesson the feel-good factor afterwards.

No such luxury for our athletes competing in Barcelona, where every position, and more importantly, every split second, counts for everything. No one goes to a European Championships not thinking about time and position, because once their race is done they’ll be asked two questions: where did you finish? What was your time? This makes for a bit of a balancing act as the championships approach; in one hand are your times and positions from the season so far, and in the other is your confidence and ability to surpass them come the championships. No one is better at getting this balance right than Derval O’Rourke. Although that’s not saying winning a medal will be easy.

O’Rourke is ranked 20th in Europe over the 100 metres hurdles, with the 13.09 seconds she clocked in Geneva early last month. This is some way off the gold medal favourites, which include Germany’s Carolin Nytra, with a best of 12.57 this summer, and Tatyana Dektyareva of Russia (12.68), Nevin Yanit of Turkey (12.74), Christina Vukicevic of Norway (12.87), plus Susanna Kallur of Sweden, the reigning champion who has run 12.78 this summer, and has a lifetime best of 12.49.

The initial impression would be unless O’Rourke improves considerably – and the others somehow falter – she has little hope of winning a medal in Barcelona.

Actually, that’s exactly what O’Rourke expects to happen. She has never allowed herself get caught up in the rankings before a championship. Last summer she went to the World Championships in Berlin with a season’s best of 12.90, ranked well outside the top 20 – and then produced a sensational series of runs to make the final, just missing out on a medal when finishing fourth. Her time? 12.67.

“I just don’t look at the rankings anymore,” O’Rourke told me last Sunday, after winning her eighth national title. (Her time? 13.26.) “Rankings are never my friend before a championship. I don’t think I’ve ever gone into a championship ranked above eighth or ninth in my whole life. I think statistics like that are for other athletes. I always see the glass as half-full. My approach is to be a little sneaky, let no one else know what I’m up to, and then come to the championship and nail it.”

O’Rourke, famously, did exactly that at the European Championships in Gothenburg four years ago, when she also struggled all summer, then ran 12.72 to win the silver medal.

What is certain is that she hasn’t run her best this summer. She did clock 12.80 in Budapest last month, although that was ruled out for ranking purposes because of a marginal tailwind. She also fell (in Bochum, Germany) and false-started (in Barcelona) – both for the first time in her career.

“I just think I approach the season a little different to other athletes. There are only one or two races every year that I consider relevant, and that’s the championship races. At the same time, I know it’s very, very difficult to win medals. They are the currency in our sport. There’s a reason not many athletes have medals, and I have a massive respect for how hard it is to win them.

“But that’s what the championships are all about. Getting through the rounds, and running faster and faster each time. The other days help get me to where I need to go, but I don’t lose any sleep over them. I prefer to delude myself, and think no one is running as well as I am.”

Actually, that sort of mentality can apply to the five-mile as much as to the Europeans.